STATEMENT: Gabrielle Giffords Responds to the Mass Shooting in California

November 8, 2018 –This morning, former Representative Gabrielle Giffords issued the following statement, reacting to the news of another deadly mass shooting America. 12 people were killed, including a sheriff’s deputy responding to the call for help, late Wednesday in a shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill, a country and western dance hall in Thousand Oaks, CA. Many others are injured. According to the Gun Violence Archive, the shooting in Thousand Oaks, CA marks the 307th mass shooting in 2018.

Statement from former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, co-founder of Giffords:

“307. So far this year, there have been 307 mass shootings. Do we really want to raise our children in a country where mass shootings are a weekly occurrence? A country where every single day in America, more than 90 people are killed with guns? This level of gun violence doesn’t happen in any other high-income country. I’m heartbroken, I’m angry, and I’m never going to accept this as normal. My heart is with the victims of this terrible tragedy, their families, and the first responders who acted so courageously to bring this horror to an end.

“Classrooms. Places of worship. Newsrooms. Movie theaters. Restaurants. Yoga studios. Nightclubs. Playgrounds. No place in America feels safe anymore.

“We shouldn’t have to live in a country where our president and our lawmakers refuse to take any action to address this uniquely American crisis that’s causing so much horror and heartbreak. There are steps we can take to reduce gun violence, but for too long, too many of those with the power to change this have prioritized personal political gain before taking action to protect our children and communities.

“Voters made clear Tuesday night that the days of the NRA blocking action to strengthen our gun laws are over. Now is the time to come together and pass legislation that will start putting our country back on the right track. Legislation that will prevent guns from landing in the wrong hands. Legislation that will save lives.”

The United States has exceptionally high rates of gun violence. Over 14,000 Americans were murdered with guns in 2016 – a rate nearly 25 times higher than in other high-income countries. Women in the United States are 11 times more likely to be murdered with a gun than in peer countries. And young Americans between the ages of 15 and 19 are 82 times more likely to be murdered with a gun.

Fact Sheet: Gun Violence in America 

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